So you think shaving the way your grandfather does and your great granfather did is metrosexual?

It's traditional, old-fashioned, effective, and manly.

Decidedly, devastatingly unhip.

quote:

---

It's traditional, old-fashioned, effective, and manly.

---

So is PBR.

I can't put my finger on it. Sure, people used to have to shave like this, but to do it now when you can get in and get out in 2-3 minutes with a cheap razor and cheap cream just seems strange and a little too pampering. I'm not into pampering. Slap on some shaving cream, do your business and put on some HEB generic aqua velva.

I mean, years ago, to take a picture, you needed a huge flash bulb and an elaborate camera set up. Now, you can take a vastly superior picture on your phone. I would think I guy running around with a box camera and a flash bulb would be kind of eccentric.

I get what you're saying. If you're happy with your process and results there's no reason to change.

I've been shaving my face since I was 13 (twenty-two years or so), and for the first 18 years I thought shaving was supposed to be painful, and razor burn and ingrowns were just what happened.

I initially switched over to a double edge to battle irritation. It has since turned into something of a hobby.

But I totally get how silly it seems when you're someone who can haphazardly run a cartridge across your face and get good results.

Plus, I'm blessed or cursed with a very light facial hair growth. I didn't start shaving until I was 16-17 and I really only have to shave every two days...I could probably go three, but I'll look scruffy in the afternoon of the third day. That's the upside, the down side is that I cannot grow a beard...too many bald spots.

quote:

---

quote:

---

It's traditional, old-fashioned, effective, and manly.

---

So is PBR.

---

Tou-effing-che.

Back in the day, PBR was the best deal at the store...then the hipster inflation came.

quote:

---

Y'all shave your junk?

---

Why do guys shave their junk? Just curious...

There are benefits depending on what the wife thinks about it.

I've had the same Fusion blade on my razor for about 18 months. Granted, I only shave 2-3 times a week, but I strop the blades on my forearm before every shave and the blades last forever.

quote:

---

quote:

---

Y'all shave your junk?

---

Why do guys shave their junk? Just curious...

---

Which house are you more likely to buy?

How do you strop the fusion blades on your forearm??

quote:

---

quote:

---

Y'all shave your junk?

---

Maybe

---

Class of 05 makes you at least early 30's...it's ok you can have hair on your junk now.

I just run it down my forearm in the opposite direction 10-15 times. People have recommended doing that on an old piece of denim, but I'm too lazy so I just do it on my forearm, only accidentally shaved it once.

quote:

---

I use whatever 4 or 5 blade razor I pick up (I can't remember the different brands and names) and some barbasol cream. I just don't understand guys that get into shaving. I see it as a necessary task and want it done asap. I'm not getting into all the crap...I want to be done in 3 minutes.

It seems pretty hipsterish/metrosexual to be lathering up with beavertail hair and messing around with a stupid straight razor.

---

Queso,
When I read the first post on this thread I knew at some point someone was going to ask about the time it takes to shave via DE. I've been shaving with a Merkur 34 for 4 years now. Yesterday I timed myself. I wasn't rushing to prove a point--from the time I started lathering to the time I finished cleaning my brush it took me 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

For me, the experience and the price of DE shaving can't be beat. I buy Feather blades (most expensive there is) and pay around .20 per blade which lasts me a week.

quote:

---

quote:

---

I use whatever 4 or 5 blade razor I pick up (I can't remember the different brands and names) and some barbasol cream. I just don't understand guys that get into shaving. I see it as a necessary task and want it done asap. I'm not getting into all the crap...I want to be done in 3 minutes.

It seems pretty hipsterish/metrosexual to be lathering up with beavertail hair and messing around with a stupid straight razor.

---

Queso,
When I read the first post on this thread I knew at some point someone was going to ask about the time it takes to shave via DE. I've been shaving with a Merkur 34 for 4 years now. Yesterday I timed myself. I wasn't rushing to prove a point--from the time I started lathering to the time I finished cleaning my brush it took me 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

For me, the experience and the price of DE shaving can't be beat. I buy Feather blades (most expensive there is) and pay around .20 per blade which lasts me a week.

---

That's fairly impressive, particularly with a Feather which doesn't discriminate between stubble and a bump, blemish, or zit--all comes clean off.

I haven't put myself on the stopwatch, but 3 passes with Feather or Gillette Silver Blue in the Merkur 34C probably takes between 15 ans 20 minutes.

But I really make love to myself.

quote:

---

I can not get the safety razor to work under my nose.

Honestly, I've tried many of the other products. I get the best shave (every day) with the Fusion. The reviews I hear from the ones I haven't tried (Harrys) echo the ones I have tried. So, for now, I'm just going to pay the premium.

By the way -- I use a shave gel Remington King of Shaves that is the best applied shave product (fify protected; hopefully) I have ever used. I've shaved just about every day for over 30 years.

---

I switched from Mach 3 to DSC about a year ago. A few months ago i just started buying the blades straight from Dorco.

My only complaint about the DSC/Dorco blades is I have a ***** of a time getting that last little bit of hair under my nose. Especially because I shave in the shower, quite often I end up with a little micro-hitler left beneath my nostrils.

quote:

---

I haven't put myself on the stopwatch, but 3 passes with Feather or Gillette Silver Blue in the Merkur 34C probably takes between 15 ans 20 minutes.

But I really make love to myself.

---

I should have said I normally only do 2 passes. But adding a third would go even more quickly than the first two BC by that point I'm seeing little to no resistance--the razor just glides. I would think it might take me 3.25 minutes to do do 3.

I haven't actually used shaving cream in years either, as long as I shave immediately after I shower everything is fine.

quote:

---

quote:

---

I haven't put myself on the stopwatch, but 3 passes with Feather or Gillette Silver Blue in the Merkur 34C probably takes between 15 ans 20 minutes.

But I really make love to myself.

---

I should have said I normally only do 2 passes. But adding a third would go even more quickly than the first two BC by that point I'm seeing little to no resistance--the razor just glides. I would think it might take me 3.25 minutes to do do 3.

---

That's really moving. I would have to think you're on the very top of the top percentiles for speed with a DE. Your technique and prep must be impeccable because the Feather will punish carelessness with bloodletting.

What do you use for cream and/or soap?

quote:

---

I use a straight razor usually and a safety razor when really short on time or travelling.The reason I do though have to do with the elimination of ingrown hairs and skin irritation When I shaved with mach3 and fusion they were constantly getting clogged and caused bad irritation and ingrown hairs. On top of that I never got a good shave from them. Going DE can save money in the long run but you really have to be conscious of your spending with it. It is really easy to get in sample and acquisition mode.
One of the best side effects of going the vintage shave route that I did not expect at all so that I now enjoy my daily shave instead of dreading the chore

ETA there is a learning curve to going with DE razors. But it is not hard if approached with the knowledge that you kinda have to learn to shave again

---

For a little while I used cartridges instead of a safety razor. With regular shaving cream, the shaving cream would clog up the are between the multiple edges so badly that I could rarely get more than about three good shaves from a cartridge. With shaving soap in a mug applied with a brush, I've never had that problem, but I prefer safety razors anyway.

One thing I'm curious about is the loose soap shavings that you sprinkle however you much into a shaving mug and whip into a lather with hot water and a brush. I've never tried these and use a cake of soap in a mug instead. Has anyone tried this type of shaving soap and how does it compare to a cake of soap in a mug?

By the way, I have occasionally run out of shaving soap. When I do, I just use whatever bar of bath soap I have available.

Man guys, yall are truely some good people and I appreciate all the input.

Can you shave your head with a DE. My typical routine has just been wetting my face and using my Mach 3. No lather, soap, or cream. For my head I am using progel, but that is because my wife bought me some a few months ago.

I am tossing up the idea of going to a DE. Perhaps that will require it's on thread.

I only ever used anything other than a safety razor for a year or two. I used a safety razor until 1974 when I started growing a beard and then had the full beard until about 1991 and didn't shave at all. I tried the cartridge razors began when I shaved the beard, but switched back to a safety razor after a year or two.

What has changed is using the cake of shaving soap in a mug and a shaving brush. I used canned shaving cream until about 1993 (except when I had the beard) and I haven't used canned shaving cream at all since 1994 or 1995. It didn't take very long using shaving soap in a mug for me to give up on canned shaving cream for good.

quote:

---

Man guys, yall are truely some good people and I appreciate all the input.

Can you shave your head with a DE. My typical routine has just been wetting my face and using my Mach 3. No lather, soap, or cream. For my head I am using progel, but that is because my wife bought me some a few months ago.

I am tossing up the idea of going to a DE. Perhaps that will require it's on thread.

---

There's certainly a learning curve with the DE. You're going to have to learn a new set of techniques. Cartridge razors don't care about angle or pressure. Cutting angle and light-to-no pressure are the main skills you need when using a DE. In fact, the pivot heads on cartridge razors actually invite you to crank up the pressure, which will more-or-less scalp you if you tried that with a safety razor.

Even though they're called safety razors, they were marketed as that because they're safer than straight razors.

As far as head shaving goes, even among folks who exclusively shave with either a single or double edge on their faces, it seems a good percentage still use cartridges or disposables on their heads.

I dunno. I'm not a head shaver, so I'm probably not the best source. But I could teach a graduate level course on face and neck shaving.

I've never had my head shaved. If I was going to do it, I imagine that I would have someone else do it instead of trying to do it myself.

quote:

---

I only ever used anything other than a safety razor for a year or two. I used a safety razor until 1974 when I started growing a beard and then had the full beard until about 1991 and didn't shave at all. I tried the cartridge razors began when I shaved the beard, but switched back to a safety razor after a year or two.

What has changed is using the cake of shaving soap in a mug and a shaving brush. I used canned shaving cream until about 1993 (except when I had the beard) and I haven't used canned shaving cream at all since 1994 or 1995. It didn't take very long using shaving soap in a mug for me to give up on canned shaving cream for good.

---

One of the cool byproducts of the traditional wet shaving renaissance is that there are a TON of new artisan soapmakers out there making unique and high performing shaving products.

Williams Mug Soap works fine, but Barrister & Mann, Mickey Lee Soapworks, Strop Shoppe (and about a dozen others) are putting out some pretty amazing traditional soft soaps right now. Essentially all of them have popped up in the last few years.

It's a good time to be a wet shaver.